Croydon railway station
}} Croydon railway station, is on the Inner West and Leppington line of the Sydney Trains network. It serves the suburb of Croydon. Station entry is accessed from The Strand, between Meta Street and Paisley Road, which passes over the tracks. Croydon is staffed from 6:00am to 7:00pm on weekdays, and 8:00am to 4:00pm on weekends and public holidays.https://transportnsw.info/stop?q=10101208 History The Main Western line to Parramatta (Granville) was originally completed in 1855. The line opened on 26 September 1855 and was double track from Sydney to Newtown and then single track to Parramatta (but duplicated in 1856). The line was built as a direct connection to Parramatta and, subsequently, for the purpose of connecting Sydney with the major rural railways that were constructed across the Blue Mountains to Bathurst and across the Southern Highlands to Goulburn via Liverpool. There were few stops along the line between Sydney and Parramatta and it was not the original intention of the line to serve suburban development. Changes to the line were more often related to the line's long distance purpose than to the communities along it. Traffic to the west and south (and later north) of the state brought the need to amplify the line, first in 1891 when it was quadrupled and later in 1927 when it was sextupled (to Homebush) and electrified. With both of these major changes the earlier stations were usually entirely demolished and replaced with a new station. The 1927 work completed this process with the complete replacement of Strathfield and much of Newtown Stations. During this time suburban development also extended west along the line and these new stations were thus specifically designed as full-scale suburban passenger stations rather than rural "halts". The Engineer for Existing Lines, George Cowdery (appointed 1863), was a particularly strong influence on the architecture of this line, building particularly elegant stations in the late 1880s ahead of the 1891 quadruplication, in addition to replacing the original stone arch viaduct at Lewisham with iron truss bridges. Sextuplication in 1927 brought less change to most local stations (which were on the southern side), the new tracks being express ones on the northern side. Croydon Station was opened as Five Dock on 7 January 1875 and renamed Croydon in August 1876. In 1880 a new waiting shed and ticket office were erected, the platforms were lengthened and a cottage erected for the Porter-in-Charge. In 1883 a vertically curved footbridge was erected at the Sydney end of Platforms, near Edwin Street. In 1890 a mortuary shed was provided at the Sydney end and the south side, together with a post office. The main station building was on the Up or northern platform against a cutting, the remains of this building can still be seen today. The waiting shed on the Down platform was 24m west of Edwin Street and had a post office immediately behind this shed. A footbridge was built at the western end of the platforms and connected to Meta Street by a ramp and to the land on the southern side by steps. The present station buildings and layout are associated with the quadruplication of 1892 for which an island platform with two side platforms were built to serve both "fast" and "slow" pairs of tracks. In 1892 the two additional tracks for the quadruplication were laid on the south side of the station, the contract being awarded to John Ahern for the building of the western footbridge and the new Meta Street overbridge. The Edwin Street level crossing was closed and the post office relocated on the eastern side of the new island platform.2 A pedestrian subway was built at the eastern end of the station in 1892 when the adjacent level crossing was closed. This subway was closed after 1980. The line was sextuplicated through Croydon in 1926-7, followed by electrification works: the local and suburban lines in 1928 and the main lines in 1955. Two additional lines were built on the southern side and the old Up "fast" platform was demolished and the post office relocated outside railway land. (Remnants remained of the footbridge and stairs leading up to this platform until they were demolished as part of the station upgrade in 2017.) In 1926, the waiting room for Platform 3/4 was shifted to Platform 5 and a new building built on Platform 3/4. An overhead booking office was also constructed in 1928. In the 1930s a new building was erected on Platforms 2/3. In 1933, the station building along the Hennessy Street platform was removed. The waiting room on Platform 1/2 was constructed in 1941. In 1947-48 an overhead parcels office was constructed and a bookstall incorporated within the booking hall. The parcels office was removed from the overhead booking office in 1980. The station underwent upgrade works in 1994-95 including the removal of a section of footbridge, the shifting of the booking office to its current location, and new platform canopies. In 2015, work commenced to on build a new footbridge and lifts. Work was completed by October 2017https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/projects/current-projects/croydon-station-upgrade Platforms and Services | p4astop = Services to the City Circle | p4anotes = | p5alinename = | p5astop = Services to Homebush and Parramatta (weekdays only) | p5anotes = }} Map Category:Sydney Trains Stations Category:Stations Category:Suburban stations Category:Stations with disabled access Category:Transport Access Program: Completed Category:Burwood Council